vaexis

I've changed the city name from 'Hel' to 'Invicta' since who actually names their city 'Hel'? I put no thought into the name and hadn't really bothered about it until now. I've also changed some details about Walker and Cordelia and their age. To clarify, Walker is 15 and Cordelia is 13 now. The reason for this will be revealed at the end of this chapter.

      Anyways, enjoy the chapter.

1st of March, the Year 1202
11:08
City of Invicta, Northern Gate

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Arkham, commander of the Heavy Division, was stationed at the head of the North Gate, taking 15 stealth operatives of the Intelligence Department and 50 of his own subordinates to reinforce the area. Being placed on a Level 1 alert, the city was even more eerie and silent than usual. Having the majority of your population trained in the military had its perks as the citizens followed the lockdown quickly, stalking the streets of Invicta cautiously with their weapons brandished.

      His huge, bulky frame towered over the ordinary guards as he supervised the gate security with silent dedication, keenly scanning over the cityscape from up on the tall walls. They were meticulously cared for and was 40metres tall and 10 metres thick. Furthermore, they had a plethora of traps and windows on the outer side to combat not only monsters but humanoid invaders. Cordelia had stressed heavily about the city's security which resulted in this, in an outsider's opinion, overkill defence. There was no doubt that such a wall took a lot of resources to maintain but thanks to Walker's external efforts, it was managed well.

      At first, the man was rather confused when first told about his deployment on the North Gate as the intruders had attacked far, far away from his position. Being on the outer areas of Invicta, it leaned especially towards the South Gate which was one of the most heavily defended entrance points of Invicta since it was the one which faced towards the Withering Heights where much of the monsters originated from.

      It would make sense if the elves tried to escape through the South Gate, even if it was well defended, as trying to manoeuvre through the streets of Invicta would be hard since the citizens would all fight them on sight. Though, Arkham couldn't see many, if any citizens at all from where he was standing. Sneaking through the rooftops was out of the question also, as Summoners had already evoked their spells and sent up their partners cloaked with Light Magic to search for them, with Diviners placing eyes all over the city.

      Yet, the general had stationed him at the furthest away area, the North Gate. Unbeknownst to Arkham, all other gates and vital entrance points had already been sealed and reinforced by numbers more numerable than his own. He had just not been informed of the movements as Cordelia was wary of interception Diviner spells that could intrude on their messages. Hence, many in her own army were unaware of circumstances outside of their own. 

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The well organised and rapid response of the Auster military had gone unnoticed by the elves as they were too distracted by the Third Squadron who was harrowing them for quite a bit of time now. Annoyingly, the elves had to keep on running away as the darted through the city, jumping over rooftops and dashing through the streets.

"Galia, we can't shake off these pursuers! We've been running like this for 10 minutes already!"

One of the leading elves, the one who was in the auction to be specific, yelled towards his superior who also ran behind him. There were 15 elves fleeing from the chasing human soldiers who stalked them with admirable agility and skill. So far, none of the elves had been terribly injured, but some light ones were inevitable. 

"Keep running towards the North Gate."

Unlike many elves, Galia was rather toned and large for an elf. Traditionally, elves were slim and wiry with an air of grace and elegance that couldn't be reproduced by any other race. On the other hand, Galia was born much like a human and was thus, disdained for much his life. Fortunately, he had prodigious talent in commanding troops and archery, so he shook off the prejudices and rose within the Elven Epoch as an officer. However, threatened by this, the nobles often sent him on suicidal missions and assignments. Of course, he not only lived but completed those missions with resounding success, so now, they send him on very easy ones so that he doesn't get as many achievements or merits.

"Captain, they've had Diviners and Summons spying on us for a long time now."

"Ignore them. We cast masking spells once we're outside the city."

Galia said so with aloof confidence but inwardly, he was alarmed. His subordinates had been casting interception spells periodically as data collected on Invicta suggested that their military made extensive use of telepathy just like they did.  Yet, not much important information had been siphoned from their network. Additionally, their pursuers, despite clearly having the ability to catch up to them and engage in combat, had only been chasing from behind...

      And then it all clicked. But it was already too late. 

"Captain, we can see the North Gate! Heh, these humans can't catch us." One of the elves shouted out with evident relief and mockery as they turned the corner, entering the courtyard of the North Gate.

"Wait!"

As those words left Galia's lips, swarms of darts from all around them flew from the shadows of the surrounding buildings. Instantly, 9 elves crumpled in a mass of bodies as the darts inserted themselves into their flesh. He could see how they only fell unconscious and did not die, which only heightened his caution. Saving us for interrogation? Not good...

      Undeterred by their failure to hit the rest, 15 humans slinked out of the darkness, brandishing daggers and kunai before streaking over to them, flashing hand signals to each other as they did so. Simultaneously, the pursuing humans arrived with their swords in hand, coordinating with the attack.  

      Arkham launched himself into the fight as well, gripping his battle-axe tightly with both hands and bringing it down. Infusing mana into his arms, the force created was so great that it sent fissures and cracks through the ground, halving the battlefield. In this way, the elves were separated from their comrades and the intelligence operatives would be able to pick them off. 

      Clang!

He blocked a slash from Galia who had pinpointed him as a priority target after his entry attack. Truly, elves were powerful; they had higher base dexterity, speed and vitality than humans and their long lifespan allowed them to learn a surplus of skills; Arkham was finding it difficult to ward Galia off with his quick and nimble swordplay as he exploited his openings mercilessly and slipped in subtle attacks in each gap with remarkable precision. 

      Unfortunately, Galia's efforts were for nought; having triple their numbers, the humans separated into groups of three and fought each elf in that fashion. Consequently, they were rapidly taken down. Galia watched with wide eyes as he was nipped in the neck by a dart, his vision growing dark in the afterwards. He was able to kill quite a few humans but after the rest of his men and women were subdued, he was quickly overwhelmed.

      Just as he was about to blackout, there was only one thought on Galia's mind: is this really a lowly human dukedom, abandoned by its empire, as the report said?

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1st of March, the Year 1202
14:47
Auster Manor, Cordelia's Study

❈

"General, the elves have been apprehended. Affiliation to the Elven Epoch has been confirmed by their medallions. Stolen items from the Trade Union have been retrieved and handed back to Mark Kaelin."

Cordelia opened an eye.

"Give them to the Intelligence Department."

"Affirmative, General."

The telepathy spell terminated. She hummed slightly, crossing her legs and placing them on top of her desk as she stretched her arms from its stiffness. 

"I overestimated the Elven Epoch. Maybe I should go and train..."

Cordelia was rather disappointed with the performance of the elves. They had played right into her hands and never managed to figure out the plan fully to trigger her backups. That was too easy.

      In truth, Cordelia had just set her standards too high. Her life was spent learning from her mistakes and regularly losing to her brother in chess matches. For sure, she was a prodigy in many aspects. Her Perfect Memory skill granted her eidetic memory in all aspects, even for subtle things like movements. For that, she could imitate martial arts or swordsmanship of any kind if she studied it for a few minutes. But it would be mistaken to think that this was all without effort. She had shed more blood, tears and sweat than anyone else in these eight lonely years. Her successes were built on her countless failures.

      Her plan was multi-faceted with several subsidiary factors to cover up glaring flaws and avoid suspicions. First, her territory's reputation; Auster was known to be an abandoned ducal house with no favour from the Escadan Imperial Family. It was barren and although had large territory, could only survive on its selling of expensive monster materials. The only fact that mattered to the elves though was the Auster military's reliance on a weakly defended telepathy network, a fact that Walker and Cordelia had left open to outsiders on purpose. Why? It was for the sole purpose of manipulating unsuspecting invaders through information. 

      They would instinctively try to intercept telepathy messages and from this, Cordelia can feed information to them and control their movements through prediction and intelligence. Hence, when information that the North Gate had been sent the least soldiers, the elves ran over there so they could break through and escape. Her deception was covered up by the fact that the North Gate was the furthest away from the Trade Union Branch so it would be 'logical' that it would be lightly defended. There was also the possibility that the Diviner would be able to break through their Diviner barrier spell and look into the 'real' telepathy network so she circumvented this by simply isolating her pawns from each other, stopping any important information from flowing to them. Obviously, that was unneeded as the elves were too confident that their information was correct.

      Second, the elves were lulled into a false sense of security and complacency through the Third Squadron, their pursuers. They were ordered to deliberately act exhausted and on the verge of collapse as if they were barely able to keep up with the elves. The spread of misinformation that the Auster House was weak also attributed to this fact as well. Cordelia even factored in the elven pride that naturally flows through their veins and bolstered it even further, blinding their judgement with arrogance. As such, their ability to see through her thoughts and plan would be limited. Not only that but she asked Mark to order his guards to let them pass with little resistance to inflate the elves' ego. 

      Third, the elves would fight in an area which she controlled. The Third Squadron also served the purpose of chasing the elves to the North Gate so that they would not think of any other gate to run too. By being close to it already, they would automatically choose that gate and thus, Cordelia had sealed off any means of escape. Sure, there was a possibility that this would not happen, but the civilians, which were supposed to be out patrolling as a Level 1 alert dictated, had already been ordered to hide outside the main street which the elves were being chased on. Again, this was unnecessary. By walking into the North Gate courtyard of their own volition, they had already sealed their fate. The Level 1 alert was more of a precaution as if the situation arose that the elves would go to a different gate, she wanted her citizens to at least stall them slightly.

      They were like puppets on a string. 

Knock, knock~

"E-excuse me, General. I am here to deliver the reports on our elven prisoners." The muffled sound of a young man, perhaps near the end of his puberty, came through the door.

"Come in."

      This was his first time ever entering the Young Miss', rather, General's office. She held full control over all military affairs in the Auster House and was the ultimate authority next to her older brother, Walker Auster. Despite being a full four years older than her, he couldn't help but tremble at her stare. He knew there was no malicious intent or bloodlust but her eyes made it so unsettling... like the eyes of a demon.

      Cordelia shifted in her seat, her posture long since fixed before he had entered. 

"Why are you the one bringing the reports today?"

"Apologies General, I was only informed that we were running low on manpower."

He bent over at the waist, explaining his presence. Even so, he was only met with a pregnant pause. A cold sweat ran down his back at her next words.

"Wong answer."

In his panic-induced terror, he roared while raising his right arm up, the glint of a knife making itself known. Widening her eyes, Cordelia leap out of the way before her innards could be spilt across the floor. In return, her chair was split apart, falling over into two clean halves. Grabbing her perched katana along the way, Cordelia crouched low and slipped into an iaido stance, ready to bisect him the moment he moved closer. She took notice of his ears which had fallen out of his hair, displaying his elven heritage in all of its full glory.

      Just like she was, the young man, now elf, lowered himself cautiously as he contemplated over his chances. He had already botched the first strike and landing another was almost impossible at this point. Her overall stats were lower, but he had seen how she had dodged his slice. There was no doubt that she was as trained as any soldier in the human army, maybe even more so, and the sword she gripped at her waist was no joke either. There was a gut feeling that told him to keep away from that blade, that he would forever regret his flesh ever coming in contact with it. Smiling bitterly, the elven spy begrudgingly realised he had no way out unless he killed the girl, the killer of his comrades, right now and escape.

      "Give up."

There was only really one reason why she even gave him this offer; she didn't want to spill blood in her own office. It would be a hassle to clean up, not to mention it was disgusting. 

"Don't patronise me, human. I'll end you right here and now, even if I have to kill myself!" He snarled viciously before throwing daggers towards her. Breathing steadily, she lifted her body in a diagonal motion, her sword arm flinging out towards the projectiles with unrivalled accuracy. They were instantly intercepted and fell out of the air, only for the elf to jump forward in the small window of time that she had left open. 

      I got you! His pale, childish face contorted into glee before being replaced with abrupt horror as his arm was now half-submerged into a black hole that had ripped itself into reality. Space-time magic! But how?! T-there was no spell circle! At 13 years old! I... I... Before he vanished into the Void for all time, he saw the girl's lips move, curling into a smirk at the end. 

Checkmate.

      He was sucked in, his body shredded on the subatomic level, leaving no trace of his existence behind. All that was left was silence in the office, apart from the rustling of papers flying about and Cordelia's heavy breathing. Her body slumped against the wall, her face paler than ever and her mana running extremely low. Her pants were becoming shallower and shallower as her body tried to compensate for mana exhaustion. Space-time magic was powerful when the situation was correct but not only was this application of magic difficult to pull off, it was also unbelievably taxing on your mana. She was not only ripping a hole in the fabric of reality but also sending her victim into the Void, a faraway dimension said to be the origin of all things. 

"P-partial Status."

Name: Cordelia Auster
Age: 13
Race: ?̵̙̱͙̎̈́̇͐͒̓̑͛͜!̸̞͇̥̤̿́#̷̨̨̩̦̟̯͔̠̯͑͌̃̾#̴̧̛͕̖̗̪́̈́͠ ̸̨̨̩̞̲͈̹͊ͅ*̵͎̞͌ͅ@̷̢̧̦̳͇̜̮̕!̶̪͉͍͛́̏̌͊͜?̵̖͐̄͐͜#̴̢̧͉̖̰̈͊͋̽́̊
Class: Swordswoman

Health: 110/122
Mana: -550/198 > /210
Stamina: 75/86

Although her body might be able to compensate using the ambient mana, that wouldn't be possible with how much she was in debt. I might die... Her chest heaved, feeling like it was on the verge of caving in from an invisible pressure. Looking at the abysmally low number again, she gritted her teeth and clenched her fist. I can't die here. Not when... I have so much to do! The last vestiges of her consciousness were slipping between the gaps of her fingers, her vision already incomprehensible. She could do nothing to stop the pulls of exhaustion taking over as her eyes closed inevitably.

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"That's my girl!"

"Ehehe!"

It was distant. The voices of a man and a girl carried over to my ears, but it seemed muffled and murky to me. I couldn't quite pinpoint the source of the sounds but for some reason, my chest hurt. Unbearably. Even though I felt like I shouldn't belong here, I continued to walk, trying to find the man and the girl.

"Oh, so this was where you both were? Dinner is ready."

"Mommy! Look, look! I made a flower crown!"

"Ooh, that's very good,"

"Hey mommy, can I put it on your head?"

"Of course you can, my darling."

Clutching at my breast, I staggered at the burning within the depths of my heart. My eyes stung as if the sight of the happy family was a sore sight.  Why?... Why did it hurt so much? A fire consumed me from inside, a voracious beast that ravaged everything in its sight. 

      Falling to my knees, I curled up in a ball. The previously white landscape became black, blacker than lacquer, which slowly encroached upon the happy family of three. Droplets scraped at my tear ducts while I stretched out an arm towards the three. They were naively unaware of the impending doom that crept behind them, so gullible and innocent... it was so familiar.

.     I watched with morbid horror as the darkness congealed into a hulking blob, towering over the unsuspecting family. Wait, no! No! NOO-

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"NOOOOOO!"

"Cordelia! Are you okay?!"

Her scream had immediately woken up her big brother who had been lying at her side, her hand in his palms. His eyes opened fully when he saw her crying streams down her cheeks, her entire body drenched in sweat. Walker promptly took her into his arms, caressing her damp hair as he whispered softly to her in a soothing tone. 

"Shhh, shhh... Your big brother is here... shh..."

Walker bit his lip behind his sister's back, closing his eyes in pain. Sometimes, he forgot that Cordelia was only a 13-year-old girl. She was still supposed to be having fun with her friends, carefree of the worries and hardships of life. In spite of that, he wasn't strong enough for her. When she had gone through her darkest days, he wasn't able to comfort her fully. Deep inside, Walker knew he wasn't the same as their parents. He was not Alexander Auster, the former Duke of Auster. He was not Lillith Auster, the former Duchess of Auster, either. However, he was Walker Auster, the Duke of Auster and the older brother of Cordelia Auster, the sole daughter of the Auster House.

      Father and Mother had been ripped ruthlessly from both of them, but it was only Cordelia who was still reeling from the pain. That was why he needed to be with her, to be the older brother that he needed to be.

      Cordelia's sniffles and hiccups had subsided, tears and sweat the only remnants of her terror. Unlike before, she was stuck to Walker, her arms and legs wrapped around his torso like a stubborn koala, with her face buried in the crook of his neck. He did not desist in his gentle coaxing, his large palms stroking her back with the tenderness that only a big brother could ever hope to create.

      The two siblings leaned into each other, residing in their thoughts as they revelled in each other's presence. They understood each other on a whole different level. They were more than just 'big brother' and 'little sister'. They were partners, fellow souls intertwined together so deeply that it couldn't just be a normal sibling relationship. Forged through experiences and trials, they were two halves of one whole. It stayed like this for hours on end, neither caring for the quickly passing time until Cordelia broke the silence.

      "Brother?"

"Hm?"

"How long was I out?"

Walker mused for a moment.

"Four days. The doctor predicted that your mana veins would die from magicule deprivation, you know?"

She had the courtesy to look embarrassed, even if only slightly. 

"...sorry."

"Hmmm? What was that?"

The pink dust on her cheeks intensified at his teasing. Refusing to back down, she shouted with all the gusto she could.

"I said sorry!"

Her brother sighed resignedly, unable to resist her cute pouting face and patted her head lightly. She had promised to him that she wouldn't use her space-time spells like that yet this had already happened. Had he pampered her a bit too much? 

      A silence ensued, Cordelia having buried herself in the bedsheets to hide her red cheeks. Next to her, Walker felt slightly troubled with the situation. The subject of her nightmare was delicate and he didn't want to approach it recklessly, so he was waiting for her to breach the topic first but clearly, that wasn't going to happen. So, he took a deep breath and gambled.

"Cordelia?"

No response.

"Did you have a nightmare?"

This time, her body visibly stiffened. He placed a palm on her shoulder, gripping it assuredly.

"...it was mother and father. I saw myself young too."

He didn't reply. Instead, he spoke through his actions; Walker hugged her tightly from behind, allowing her to relax her stricken frame as it loosed into his large chest. Like his father, he had a substantially bigger physique than normal humans though not to the point of being excessively macho. It allowed him to fit her into his embrace snugly without a problem, despite being only 15 years old.

      The rest of the night flew away and with it, their worries and stress. They fell asleep in the other's arms.

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vaexis

Although it was always in the back of my mind, I never actually thought about writing this as an incest story. To be honest, I don't mind switching to that now since the story hasn't progressed that much so go and vote in the poll if you want. It's also for this reason that I changed the ages of the two siblings, as Walker was originally intended to be 18. Personally, I'm not into large age gap relationships, though a couple of years is okay and I just wanna say that its something that's been ingrained into me as a social norm. I don't mind incest though but I would be lying if I said that I would be surprised by it since its not 'normal' in our society. Bash me if you want for 'double-standards' but I don't really care.

      If the third option wins, the poll will be delayed until further updates so that you can get a feel for their characters. Just to note, I don't mind who Cordelia actually ends up with since the actual ML and older brother are good husbando material.